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Noble Bird flies home in Pimlico Special
- Updated: May 20, 2016
6:03 PM ET
BALTIMORE — Noble Bird’s powerful victory Friday in the Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special was especially sweet for trainer Mark Casse and jockey Julien Leparoux as it helped erase the unpleasant memory of his eighth-place finish 13 days ago in the Grade 2 Alysheba at Churchill Downs.
Noble Bird was sent off as the 2-1 favorite in the Alysheba, but he hopped in the air at the start of the 1-1/16-mile race and then became rank and fought with Leparoux on the clubhouse turn and up the backstretch before tiring.
“I was really disappointed after the race because I thought we were going to win,” Casse said. “He tired and finished second to Eagle in the Ben Ali the race before, but Eagle was at the top of his game, and we were coming off a break. I thought he was really ready for the Alysheba.”
Noble Bird takes Friday’s Pimlico Special. Maryland Jockey Club
Leparoux said he learned in the Alysheba not to fight with Noble Bird and was determined to take a lighter hold in the Special.
“The key today was that I left him alone,” Leparoux said. “He fought me the whole way in …
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